IBTHM Chapter 14

"Hup!"

I glared intently at my skeletal left wrist, withered like a winter tree.

My eyes felt hot—perhaps magic lasers might shoot out—but naturally, no such thing happened to me with ability stats converging on zero.

"Who told you to strain your eyes? Concentrate your mind and try to grasp the energy circulating within your body."

"Excuse me, Your Grace. If this were easy, would I be here? I'd have been scouted by the temple ages ago and be called a saint by now."

Like the maxed-out healer female lead, Deborah.

Anyway, I was currently in Hades's room.

His casual mention about training to hide the core jewel apparently wasn't just idle talk—his butler came looking for me as soon as breakfast ended.

Hades kept telling me to try drawing out the strange energy that Crescenta Empire citizens supposedly possess within their bodies, but easier said than done—no matter how hard I strained, I felt absolutely nothing.

A few minutes ago, I'd strained so hard I nearly had an accident.

I needed to visit the restroom, but felt too embarrassed to mention it to Hades, who was even more serious about this than I was.

"No, how can someone who can't even hide their core jewel be talking about sainthood? Your head is absolutely full of delusions."

Hades, who'd been flipping through a thick book, stood beside me and laughed derisively as if dumbfounded.

Looking at the pretty white core jewel embedded in my wrist made me sigh deeply.

Just having it exposed outside my body was a fatal weakness, yet I couldn't even properly utilize its power. Wasn't this the very definition of pretty garbage?

"A third of Empire citizens can't use their core jewel's power. You're not inadequate—it's perfectly normal. Only those with concentrated Imperial bloodlines can freely wield their core jewel's abilities."

"Like Your Grace?"

"Yes, like me."

Hades shrugged as he answered.

I'd noticed from his severe case of self-consciousness, but he clearly felt not an ounce of shame about self-praise.

"Then show me that amazing ability of yours. I'm curious."

Having opened the floodgates, I decided to give him more time for self-aggrandizement.

As a father who cherished Abel, I—a humble Abel devotee—was fully willing to clap like a seal and flatter him.

Hades considered briefly before suddenly raising one finger to caress the area around my wrist.

Just as his index finger gently traced the edge of the white core jewel and pressed firmly on my lower palm—

"Wow!"

An exclamation burst from my lips.

It felt exactly like a winter heating pack grazing my fingertips.

Empire citizens with red core jewels controlled fire energy, and apparently such tricks as raising body temperature were included in that ability.

I'd known about it, but experiencing it firsthand was truly fascinating.

"This is totally a hand warmer! So that's why Your Grace doesn't shiver despite dressing lightly in this freezing north."

Finding it fascinating, I grabbed Hades's hand.

Unlike when just one finger touched, it truly felt like a substantial hand warmer.

His room was rather chilly too, and the warm temperature felt nice, so I kept fidgeting with that heated hand for a while.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

The hand I'd been absently fidgeting with suddenly pulled away from mine.

Looking up, his face showed bewilderment.

Oops—I apologized immediately.

"I'm sorry. It felt so warm and nice."

"Didn't you say you can't stand heat?"

"Ah, did I say that?"

When panicking about being caught fangirling, I think I told that lie while making excuses about breaking into a cold sweat.

Hades chuckled and said, "You don't need to make excuses like claiming you can't stand heat either. If you want to hold hands, just say so. I'm not stingy with physical contact."

"...Pardon?"

As if he'd never been flustered, he looked at me with an expression brimming with self-confidence.

A face that seemed to say he could hold the hand of someone as lowly as me right now if I wanted.

I shook my head inwardly, marveling at Abel Father's overflowing confidence.

"Not at all. How could I dare."

"I told you it's fine?"

As if challenging me to try, Hades thrust his large hand right in front of my eyes.

I shook my head once again.

"Men and women should maintain propriety..."

"Are we strangers? We'll be husband and wife soon—why be so formal?"

No, seriously, what's with this person? Acting like something terrible will happen if I don't hold his hand right this instant.

"Hold it!"

"I'm fine."

"I said hold it!"

"And I said I'm fine!"

"You won't get another chance if not now?"

Good grief...

Every time Hades acted this bewildering, the age-old slogan of "confess and seek redemption" floated through my mind, but I endured with superhuman strength.

Though I had no idea why I was stoically protecting even his embarrassment...

"Yes, yes, Your Grace. Then excuse me."

With my right hand, I grabbed his extended left hand, interlacing our fingers completely.

Perhaps not expecting me to hold hands this way, Hades showed visible signs of fluster.

Who'd have thought from the person who'd made such a fuss about holding hands?

"Now hurry and teach me how to hide this thing."

While holding Hades's hand, I gestured with my chin toward my left arm, which I'd placed on the table with my wrist facing up.

He wore a blank expression briefly before clearing his throat several times. Then he dragged a chair from slightly away right next to mine.

Still keeping our interlaced fingers firmly clasped without releasing them.

Sitting side by side, we looked exactly like high school students secretly holding hands under their desks while dating.

"Um... so..."

Hades rubbed his chin with his free hand, pretending to think hard, but for some reason all his attention seemed focused on our clasped hands.

I pretended not to notice and asked, "By the way... white attribute abilities are quite useful if you can use them, right?"

"Mm, that's right. Plus, those with white attributes are rare to begin with."

Esclife Barony was one of the few families born with that rare and useful attribute, maintaining it well through generations, but it was surprisingly meaningless.

Since they weren't born with the magical power to actually utilize that ability.

Perhaps that incompetence had fully blossomed in my generation.

Otherwise, there'd be no reason for me to walk around so carelessly displaying a core jewel that even young children could naturally hide once they matured.

"Hah..."

A sigh escaped naturally.

As I stared at the jewel on my wrist with a pathetic gaze, Hades suddenly squeezed the hand he was holding.

When I turned to look, he was staring directly at me.

"Didn't I tell you there's no need to try so hard? I'll never need your help. What kind of formidable person could possibly hurt me?"

Well, he was misunderstanding on his own again...

Still, the reason I felt regretful looking at this white attribute core jewel—like a picture of rice cakes—wasn't too different from what Hades was probably assuming.

It was power that could prevent Abel's rampage and Hades's death a year from now, yet I couldn't use it at all—how could I not feel regretful?

Right now, at this moment, I couldn't help but think of the female lead, Deborah.

If red core jewels with fire attributes controlled fire energy, then white attribute core jewels controlled the ability of purification.

Also well-known for healing abilities, the principle behind white attribute powers was basically absorbing and purifying a target's wounds or contaminated mind.

Abel possessed tremendous ability stats but had a handicap he couldn't control himself.

That was the periodic rampage when his abilities clashed, and during those times Abel would experience the evil combo of mental contamination and physical collapse while hovering at death's door.

In this world setting, there was only one high-level white attribute user capable of absorbing and purifying Abel's condition.

The female protagonist, Deborah Florence—she alone.

Other white attribute users didn't possess magical power strong enough to purify Abel's massive power.

Even if they somehow managed to absorb it, they couldn't purify that overwhelming magic and would just suffer a meaningless death instead of Abel.

So to Abel, Deborah's existence was sedative itself.

Truly a match made in heaven.

Wasn't this a setting that would make readers' hearts flutter?

A man who's strong but periodically can't control that strength and rampages, and the woman who alone can stabilize him.

Certainly, the author of Persona designed the female lead Deborah as Abel's sole salvation.

That was precisely why she was the only one in this world who could freely wield white attribute abilities, and simultaneously—

The reason why the remaining handful of white attribute holders had to be excessively incompetent.